The Best Smile

By Jennevy Cabiza

At a tender age, I already realized that after the beauty and gladness life may offer, it is not a fairy tale which always ends up in happily ever after. Sometimes life simply caves in – everything seems to go wrong. It can take its hardest blow on you at the most unexpected time and place. And just as you come reeling back from one blow, something else hits you on the head.

Two weeks before my 6th birthday, my dad, who’s a mechanical engineer, lost his job; the company where he worked for seven years was forced to close due to bankruptcy. In the eve of my birthday, my mom was rushed to the hospital due to high blood pressure and was near her expected date of giving birth. The doctors said mom should undergo a caesarean delivery due to her condition called Preeclampsia, a disorder that occurs only during pregnancy and postpartum period that both affect the mother and the unborn baby. It is a rapidly progressive condition characterized by high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine. To make things more complicated, the doctors found out that the baby’s heart inside her womb was getting weak. Everyone became worried, both for the condition of my mom and her baby. I couldn’t completely understand what the whole hysteria was about. Everybody seems worried and scared. So I began to ask grandma, tita, and dad about what happened, but nobody’s listening and willing to answer my questions. Everyone was busy asking the doctor on what necessary operations should be done. All they could say to me is, “Hilom sa nak ha, magistorya sa mi sa doktor.” Right then, I realized that I am no longer the cream of the crop; that I won’t have any grand birthday celebration; and that baby, on my mom’s womb, before she even comes out into this world already receives a lot of attention than me. Which made me starts to hate the idea of having a sibling.

Being the only child for six years, I received a lot of attention from my parents. I received total care and treatment, but since my mom got pregnant, everything changes. When everyone knows mom was pregnant, people started telling me, “Hala Bem, naa nakay igsoon. Naa nakay kailog sa love sa imong mama ug papa.” or “Dili naka love sa imong mama ug papa kay naa nay baby.” Those words tarnished my young mind. Even though they laugh and said atik lang after they told me those, what they have said already leaves an impression on me that maybe mom and dad will no longer love me if they will have a new born child. Even though mom and dad always told and reassure me that they love me so much, and that I’m still their little princess even though there’s a baby on the way; I still tend to believe those bastards who told me things that made me scared and questioned my parents’ love for me.


I am exposed to many life’s problems, but amidst all those crises my family and I faced, we became closer and more bonded. At six, I have seen my dad struggle to find a new job and how he exerted effort to find sidelines to cope with our daily expenses and hospital bills. I saw how my mom endures pregnancy. At such a young age, I witnessed how difficult it is to get pregnant. Having a history of high blood pressure made my mom suffer even more. I saw how her belly becomes larger and larger as time goes by; and how difficult for her to get up, bend, stand, walk, and sit down because of her very large belly. I witnessed how she suffered headaches, morning sickness, and swollen legs. And because of these things she had undergone through, I began to feel sorry for her. I began to feel bad, for I see her suffering. What’s worse was I cannot do anything to ease her pains; all I can do is to sympathize with her.

I have witnessed how my mother nearly died due to giving birth. At that moment, I began hating the baby in her womb for she made my mom bear such pain. When my mom was rushed to the hospital, I became really scared. The scene of mom fainting was horrifying. That was the first time I saw mom fainted. I remembered my dad driving like a race car driver in a formula one race to bring mom to the hospital. For a second or two, I thought that I was in a movie or telenovela; with all the hysteria and commotions, I began to pray. I pray really hard for the safety of my mom. My mom survived after 12 hours of caesarean operation. Mom was unconscious when she was transferred from the operating room. She was lifeless and exhaustion was written all over her face. I cried when I saw her. I thought I could never see her again, but thank God she’s alive.

Looking at the new born baby, I knew that something was not right with her. She had wrinkles in the thighs, sore-covered skin, and sunken eyes. I was terrified at how small she was, and how many machines she was hooked up to. “So”, I told myself, “this is the baby who nearly killed my mom.” But the longer I looked at her face, the clearer I had seen peace and innocence. The doctors told us that she would have to be given medicine to paralyze her and that she would be placed on a high frequency vent for three days. Watching her small and fragile body, I began to feel really sad for her. I pitied her condition. I thought when I see my sister; I would feel hatred for everything she caused to mom, but surprisingly, it’s not what I felt. An innocent and feeble creature like her doesn’t deserve this condition she is going through, I told myself. Dad, mom, and I left the hospital without the baby. She stayed in the hospital for 6 days for she was still under treatment.

After six days, the baby was finally brought home. She is so delicate and pink. Unable to contain myself from touching her, I reached out to hold her tiny fingers. But as my fingers touched her, she awoke. And smiled! The feeling was unexplainable. As if all of my sorrow and troubles disappears. It was the best smile I have ever seen. I know right then that Faye would be my little sister forever.